Elvis = Zillow
Happy Birthday Elvis!I'm always up for a challenge, especially one from my favorite non-conformist Marlow...
"anyone submitting an article that somehow combines the subjects of Real Estate and Elvis gets guaranteed publication in this weeks Carnival, no matter how much of a stretch or how many degrees of separation."
Here's my bald-faced submission...
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Why Elvis? How did he create a sea change in American culture? Sea change can manifest when a meme, a belief system, or a custom suddenly has conflicting interpretations due to an episode of transparency, an episode that presents a countercultural idea in a new public light.
Here’s how Elvis became the icon for a national culture of music and (harrumph, bear with me) why the internet is creating a national culture for real estate, historically a very local transactional business. It all has to do with mass media and how its inherent broadcast functionality continually evolves to “intrude” into local lives in various ways.
Radio was the first “mass media”, the term was coined during its advent in the 1920’s. Yet, radio by the 1950’s was still a local media, there were very few national broadcast networks, so almost all radio stations played to their local constituencies. Then in the mid-50's, television developed as a national "broadcast network” medium coinciding with Elvis' rising fame. Suddenly New York City programming intruded into the lives of small town America. And small town America freaked out... sacrilegious hip swinging was a media assault that wooed local innocent bobby soxers. You can imagine the '50's outrage - it was the first time a box (as in Pandora) could import bad city ideas into the privacy of home (radio couldn't do that because it was still local). Pop culture was born, and with it, no panties Britney Spears.
The real estate industry has always been a local business, its history in plain view with the local Multiple Listing Service systems today. The early Web entrepreneurs immediately understood that the internet is the ideal medium for building highly scalable “transaction engines” like Amazon and eBay. Until recently, real estate has been considered too complicated and too expensive a transaction item for internet disintermediation... the Realtor community felt the internet's presence like a dark cloud but did not really take any action. Until Zillow.
Zillow exposed real estate nationally... and the internet broadcast it democratically to the consumer. It encouraged the consumer to become educated with the real estate transaction, starting with pricing. Suddenly, Silicon Valley programming intruded into the jobs of Realtors nationwide... what did dotcommers know about real estate?... and even more heretical, it delivered a dubious Zestimate directly to the home buyer or seller. Pop real estate was born, and with it, Allen Dalton. 
Here's the point: Realtors were first outraged, then realized they were reacting to fear, to a threat... the internet had finally reared its monstrous head and, with Zillow, announced its anticipated arrival as the new world order, as Elvis did on Ed Sullivan's show.
I had lunch today with Reggie Nicolay of Fidelity Title, and author of Technology for Real Estate. He says, quite aptly: "before, when we went on sales calls for our Transaction Point product, the Broker would counter with - 'well, we'll think about it'. Well now, the thinking is over, and the sales process has become much easier."
| Icon |
Elvis |
Zillow |
| Broadcast Media |
Television |
Internet |
| Initial Reaction |
Outraged small town America |
Outraged Realtors |
| Subsequent Reaction |
"At least Milton Berle is funny on TV" | "Zillow seems sincere about being a media company |
| Call to Action |
Buy a Color TV |
Buy a Treo |
| What happened next |
Put on the back burner by four Liverpool kids | Tech company evolution is fast and furious... and a lot like pop music. Will Zillow play in 2010? |
OK, I'm not usually blustery, but I propose a game... any other memes or icons you'd like me to relate to real estate? Try me...
Technorati Tags: Elvis, Carnival of Real Estate, Marlow, Zillow, Real Estate 2.0, Web 2.0, Real Estate Technology
Brilliant Pat!!
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Whoa! How did I end up here? I was searching on Britney Spears...
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Nice comparison and accurate I'd say. Zillow is as big as Elvis. Both made a grand impact. In 2010, Zillow will probably still play along with all its imitators, just like Elvis. The net cycle of life seems to be innovation, imitation, over saturation. Then bring on the next act.
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Loved the post. and real estate has not left the building. While I read T RE regularly, I realized I had neglected to include you in my blog roll!
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Appreciate the acknowledgement fellows... honored to be a part of your oeuvre...
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I blog'd about the King's house of birth, a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi on Jan. 8th. I thought I would meme Elvis as the King of understanding Social Network Media - if he was still alive~! Also an excellent link-back to call for "A Social Networking Bill of Rights".
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Bravo, Pat! Nice catching up this morning.
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Ok Pat here it is. . . The Godfather of Soul aka James Brown. And no the "Big House" doesn't count. . .
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No mention of how a fried peanut butter sandwich is like playing with Zillow's "Make Me Move" option for sellers - a late night guilty pleasure?
My one disagreement with your post is that Realtors continue to act with outrage and fear as Zillow and others roll out further consumer-empowering features and information.
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There will always be Realtors acting outraged... Darwin will get 'em...
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Interesting read. Just bookmarked your site. Go Bears!
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Thanks! Always nice to hear from a Cal grad...
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Wait until Zillow gets it wrong ON YOUR HOUSE and you loose a buyer without recourse. So your property is up today, it can be down tomorrow regardless of the similar homes on the street without an explanation. They say you can add information to correct their zestimate, but I have been waiting for a response or even an acknowledgement of the issue with nothing. Until they are transparent in their strategy they are LIABLE and should be sued. If they are using so called public information without giving the homeowner opportunity to truly amend false/lacking statements (including zestimates) they should be held accoutable for every penny the seller loses in any transaction. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t in the real estate business, they are in business. In business there are clearly winners and losers and RIGHT NOW people are losing based on their misinformation. Disclaimers or not, they should be held accountable. I hate law suits as much as the next guy but when rebuttals are ignored you make enemies and propagate bad business toward their gain. JUST WAIT UNTIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU NO ZILLOW
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Zillow "Guess-Idiots" appear to rely on public tax records that in some cases haven't been updated in twenty-five years. The zestimator is a sketchy tool to rely on. I believe it's best to use a Professional Appraiser when valuing real estate.
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I've actually sold one of my clients homes through Zillow. He was researching his homes value and it just so happened to be that my listing was a couple blocks away from his home. He called me up and we had a transaction in play within a week. Thanks Zillow.
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Oh Zillow, its been so good. But Im just dont think they will make a big impact like they thought.
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